Indigenous languages of the Americas

“Indigenous peoples' is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. Often, ‘Aboriginal peoples' is also used. The Canadian Constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal peoples: Indians (more commonly referred to as First Nations), Inuit and Métis. These are three distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.” (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada). Aboriginal people are comprised of about 4.3% of the…

the Europeans arrival would be the beginning of a terrible nightmare. In Latin Colonial America by Kevin Terraciano, there are letters and documents that give the various perspectives of people living during the initial conquest period. Native languages have been translated to English by Mattew Restall, Lisa Sousa and Kevin Terraciano in the book Mesoamerican Voices. While the Europeans viewed the Indigenous population as inferior, the…

the potential in exploiting the land and its peoples. Although they seemed to act with no conscience at all in the beginning, some rationale and justification was necessary to continue the European’s actions toward the indigenous populations of the Americas. The argument for indigenous subjugation and murder was threefold: their actions were…

today as the United States of America, cheating American Indians of having their history known to the world; a cruel twist of fate that Miranda will not accept, titling her memoir Bad Indians. Miranda constructs meaning in her writing about the experiences of indigenous peoples under colonialism through identifying negative changes brought over by Europeans and losses of her culture and language. Specifically, she discusses her father’s method of discipline, the indigenous people who…

After Columbus first arrived in America, during the subsequent years of exploration and discovery, the indigenous peoples of the New World became one of the focal points of study and investment. From fighting off aggressive tribes to learning about potential gold sources from peaceful inhabitants, Spanish—and later Portuguese—colonists had many interactions with the Amerindians. However, these interactions were not all identical. Reading first hand experiences from authors of the time, it is…

Conquistadors committed toward the indigenous, he describes that the, “…most damnable things in the whole of Creation is the way in which the Spanish use natives to fish for pearls” (De las Casas, 93). In other words, the inhumane and cruel maltreatment of the indigenous divers for pearls demonstrate the dehumanization of indigenous people. The extensive exploitation and oppression toward the pearl divers display that they are worthless than a mineral, thus, degrading the indigenous to the realm…

Central America and is bordered by Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, Belize, the Caribbean, Honduras, and El Salvador. The meaning of the name Guatemala being “land of trees,” fits perfectly seeing that the country is heavily forested and mountainous. The country of Guatemala assumes an area of 108,889 km² (42,042 sqmi) and has an estimated population of 12,701,000, which is the most populous in Central America. The languages most prevalent in Guatemala include Spanish and Amerindian languages, along…

this essay will focus on the notion that the first focuses on the violence, aggressiveness and underdevelopment of a Brazilian favela through a limited, privileged perspective and the latter emphasises the diversity of indigenous Latin Americans, avoiding limiting South America to quite simply, ‘non-European’ and aiming to give…

Saving Indigenous Culture: A Priority of the Future Indigenous people face a difficult choice of whether to move and disappear to save their culture or assimilate into mainstream culture. Either way, their culture will change to adapt to the new situation they are forced into, risking their unique language and culture in the process. However, if outsiders could intervene and protect their culture, it would benefit the world greatly. To begin with, the Indigenous people have lived off the land…

1. What was Native American society like before European contact? What similarities and difference existed? The indigenous peoples of what is now the United States were split into countess tribes, practiced a variety of religions and traditions, and developed different ways of life in different environments across North America. Some native tribes were nomadic hunter-gatherers, migrating based on seasonal changes, while others lived in settled communities with larger populations. Settled tribes…